World War 1

World War I

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"American Experience | The Great War", is a 3-part, 6-hour documentary from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). “Drawing on the latest scholarship, including unpublished diaries, memoirs and letters, 'The Great War' tells the rich and complex story of World War I through the voices of nurses, journalists, aviators and the American troops who came to be known as 'doughboys.'” - KPBS News. Following are core events as described in episode transcripts:

(1) American Declaration of War: “Narrator: On April 2nd [1917], as rumors of a declaration of war swirled through Washington...At 8:32 p.m. Woodrow Wilson entered the floor of the House of Representatives. He was greeted by a two minute standing ovation. Speaking to a rapt chamber he announced that ’the recent course of the Imperial German Government' was, 'in fact nothing less than war against the Government and people of the United States.’...A. Scott Berg, Writer: [It is] what I consider, the greatest foreign policy speech in American history, because embedded within this speech is a single sentence, which for the last hundred years has been the bedrock of all American foreign policy. And that sentence quite simply is this,’the world must be made safe for democracy.’ Narrator: 'Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty,’ Wilson continued, ’We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind.’ A. Scott Berg, Writer: Wilson realized the country had a new power. We were not going in for treasure, we were not going in for territory. We were not there to be an imperial nation.”

(2) Horrors of War: Despite aggressive schedules ramping up to full scale war resource production, in the midst of unpreparedness dynamic unpredictable aggressor developments often demanded immediate changes of plan to meet challenges, men often showing up to the front “barely trained...Some...without complete uniforms, others...without rifles”. At a main American offensive along the Western Front at Meuse-Argonne, in the woods bordering No Man's Land, soldiers describe scenes like “A thick white fog seemed to close in from all sides...isolating our company entirely, and nullifying all the careful instructions about keeping in touch...Robert J. Laplander, Writer: The Argonne Forest is a dense tangle...almost impenetrable...Richard Slotkin, Historian:...no unit could maintain contact with the units on its flanks because the woods are just too thick…Voice: Ralph John:..There were something over five hundred men, who would become known as the Lost Battalion”, who, under near continuous bombing & machine-gun fire, often under torrential rains, crawling through densely barbed wire ridden ridges, valleys & trenches, were further tasked with weathering the piling on of simultaneous calamities including cut supply line generated lack of provisions/medicines/weapons, poison gases (particularly mustard that stayed in the ground & re-released as troops unwittingly re-activated it trudging across fields), infection-caused multiple re-amputations, shell shock, flamethrowers & the global pandemic spread of the killer H1N1 influenza virus.

(3) Fourteen Points Peace Plan: “Narrator: On January 8th, [1918, Wilson]...Before a joint session of Congress...in fourteen separate points, he outlined a plan for the war’s end...Dan Carlin, Podcast Producer:...If you want to make a world safe for democracy, what’s the structure for that? What’s the framework? This is a realistic way to go about creating an idealistic future...Narrator: It was the fourteenth point that Wilson felt was to be the keystone of the post-war world: a League of Nations that would arbitrate conflicts between countries...David M. Kennedy, Historian: The League of Nations would be some kind of new forum for the resolution of international disputes...Christopher Capozzola, Historian:...to give a chance for international organization and international arbitration...David M. Kennedy, Historian:...the conditions of modern warfare were just so unimaginably destructive that mankind had to find some other way to resolve these perennial conflicts...Margaret MacMillan, Historian: Underlying the whole speech is this idea that you can build a better world order. This is really an enunciation of what the United States is going to be like as a player in world affairs...we don’t see ourselves as just policing our own back yard. We see ourselves as somehow policing the world and helping the world find a better way forward...Narrator: Congress greeted Wilson’s speech with a sustained ovation. It received glowing reviews and banner headlines across the country. Around the globe, the response was equally positive. The Star of London gushed that Wilson was ‘the greatest American president since Lincoln’...Christopher Capozzola, Historian: When we look back at claims that this would be the war to end all wars we think that Wilson and the American people were naïve to think such a thing would be possible. But if you don’t ever articulate that as a national goal, as an international dream, well then you’re definitely never going to accomplish it. I think Americans believe in Wilson’s vision of the world, not because they think it is true, but because they want it to be true”.

(4) At the Brink: “Narrator: Eighteen months after Wilson had taken his country to war, the United States was finally ready to unleash its full might. The biggest army in American history stood silent and ready along a twenty-mile section of the Western Front known as the Meuse-Argonne...On September 27, the day after the beginning of the American offensive in France, Wilson was in New York City to deliver a speech at the Metropolitan Opera House...Wilson spoke about the meaning of the war. Like people all over the world, he believed that a tragedy of this scale could be justified only by a revolution in world affairs.’Common people have demanded,’ Wilson announced,'that their governments declare what they are seeking in this war. Their leaders respond only in statesmen’s terms – in terms of territorial arrangements and divisions of power, and not in terms of justice and mercy and peace.’ More and more, Wilson was taking on the role of spokesman for the common people of the world.’This is a people's war,’ he warned. ’Statesmen must follow or be broken.’”

(5) Armistice: “Narrator: All along the Western Front the German Army was crumbling under the combined weight of British, French, and American assaults…[with] German soldiers...surrendering by the tens of thousands...their homeland...collapsing from within...the population [reduced] to starvation...the economy...bankrupt”, the aggressor is finally overwhelmed. ”The message came through the Swiss Embassy.’The German government accepts, as a basis for the peace negotiations, the program laid down by the President of the United States in his Fourteen Points message, and in his address of September 27, 1918.’”

Resources: American Experience | The Great War

● Web: Website

●● Cookbook “Victory Recipes of the Great War”: Flip through the cookbook & print the recipe cards (click “Full Screen” then “<>”) at Victory Recipes of the Great War

●● Exercise Program - The forerunner to modern High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) systems (for example that developed by U.S. Armed Forces Special Operations physical training (with accompanying nutrition) program developer/instructor Mark Lauren (About)): Mr. Pilates

● Watch: Passport YouTube Amazon

Source: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) "American Experience" | The Great War" website. All quotes & graphics from Transcript & Features sections.